Series: The Radical Call of Jesus
Message: Radical Choice
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira
Daily Walk: Japhet De Oliveira

Refresh: Open with prayer. Read or listen to Psalm 102:23–28.

Read: Revelation 4:1–8:1 (ESV). As you re-read the text for the final time this week in the English Standard Version, what new insights did you discover about God’s character?

Reflect: The four horsemen were not unusual symbols at that time, because they represented the four plagues that would befall Israel if it broke its covenant with God, as seen in Deuteronomy 32:23-25, Ezekiel 14:21, and Jeremiah 15:3. As the first four Churches also struggled to repent and conquer, so these four horsemen demonstrate the results on the Church. The call of the Gospel requires a radical choice. During the fifth seal, many made those radical choices and suffered persecution; some estimate that over 50 million people were killed during the Dark Ages. The sixth seal focuses on those who are in the process of rejecting the Gospel, making a radical choice not to follow Jesus. 

Chapter 7 introduces the sealing on the foreheads, which later when we read Revelation 13 will be an interesting contrast. Jacques B. Doukhan, in Secrets of Revelation, writes:

The seal marks those who believe in the Creator. To confess God’s ownership of our lives to recognize Him as our Creator (p. 70).

Steve Case and Daniel Wysong, in their book Finding Jesus in the Book of Revelation, share (based on Ephesians 1:13-14) that:

The New Testament presents the Holy Spirit as God’s seal. It makes sense that those who are able to stand at the judgment are those have the Holy Spirit living inside them. When the Spirit is within you, seeing Jesus face-to-face becomes a family reunion (p. 53).

In Chapter 8, Verse 1 we return to the final seal. Total silence! While there are many ideas and interpretations as to what this means—is it a short time, is it one week exactly (based on the year-day principle), is it connected to creation and a return?—the results are all the same. If you make a radical choice to follow Jesus, you have nothing to fear for the future. The seals offer a glimpse of how heaven responds to our choices, and yet despite our inability to always repent and conquer, Jesus sends more strength every day into our lives.  

Recalibrate: ​​​What is holding you back from making the radical choice to follow Jesus?

Respond: Pray for the Spirit's continued nudging in your life.

Research: Read the first four chapters of Steps to Christ by Ellen White.